Vince Vaughn Joins Colin Farrell for True Detective Season 2

Vince Vaughn is very tall, fairly funny, and passably handsome. Colin Farrell is fairly tall, passably funny, and very handsome. Vaughn had a string of hits during the 2000s (Wedding Crashers and Old School chief among them), and Farrell had his share of "oh yeah, that guy" films (Phone Booth, S.W.A.T., In Bruges, Crazy Heart). Both are still stars with dedicated followings and seemingly limited range.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Now, with the news that Vaughn will co-star alongside Farrell in Season 2 of HBO's breakout cerebral cop drama True Detective, there is understandable skepticism. Farrell will play Ray Velcoro (A+ name), "a compromised detective whose allegiances are torn between his masters in a corrupt police department and the mobster who owns him." Vaughn will play Frank Semyon, "a career criminal in danger of losing his empire when his move into legitimate enterprise is upended by the murder of a business partner."

Vaughn will likely bring some much-needed diffusion of tension to what was, in its first season, an unyieldingly serious show. And Farrell, despite his "I-am-acting-are-you-watching-me-act?" style, has a knack for delivery and timing.

But will the duo's on-screen chemistry match that of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson? Will Vaughn's tall-and-cocky persona feel like a cheap version of Law & Order? And will Elisabeth Moss or Rachel McAdams round out the cast, as has been rumored? We'll have to wait and see.